Review 734: War of the Worlds (2005)

 

Based on the science fiction novel The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells; Ray Ferrier (Tom Cruise) is a blue collar dock worker who, when an alien invasion threatens the future of humanity, must race to keep his family safe 

At its core, Steven Spielberg’s War of the Worlds is an anti-war film; throughout the film, civilians run and only try to save themselves and their family as opposed to fighting back against the tripods. There’s an every-man-for-himself vibe to the   For his part, Ray doesn’t try to help anyone else on the road. In one scene, he actually delays the departure of a ferry so that he and his kids can scramble aboard. and does away with typical sci-fi action movie cliches like the destruction of famous landmarks and 

The score by John Williams is  

Ray Ferrier is not an intrinsically likeable character, he tires way to hard to be the cool dad, he struggles to relate to his kids; they think he’s a dweeb